


A Tangled Web We Weave

by Cloudnine101



Category: Daredevil (TV), Jessica Jones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-07 11:07:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5454413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudnine101/pseuds/Cloudnine101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>"Woah," Foggy says, gaping. "You really did a number on that chair."</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>(AU - Jessica pretends to date Matt in order for Foggy to fall in love with him.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Tangled Web We Weave

"As much as I'm loving this dinner," Foggy says, beaming genially over his meringue, "which I totally am, by the way - you said you had an announcement, Jess."

"Hear, hear!" Karen yells, apparently infected with love for humankind, before lurching sideways and almost tipping off her seat. Claire tugs her upright well enough, but keeps a steadying arm around her shoulders.

"So good," Luke mutters. Picking up his glass, he takes a sip of wine ($6.99, straight out of Jessica's pocket), and dives back into the dessert. "How do you _make_ this, Trisha?"

Trish laughs, shaking her head. Jessica grinds her hands into fists underneath the table. To her right, Matt's looking peaky. His face is ashen. Every so often, he gulps.

"It's my mother's work," Trish says. "She taught me. We used to cook on Saturday mornings." 

"One thing she did right," Jessica mutters. "And I've got something to tell you, if you'd all shut up for one second."

"Woah," Karen says. "Is everything too bright, or is that just me?"

Smiling, Claire rolls her eyes. "How many fingers am I holding up?" she asks.

Karen squints. "Four?"

"Foggy," Matt says. Then he turns to Jessica, and whispers, "This is probably a mistake. We shouldn't - we should stop." 

Matt's lips are drawn tight together. Foggy and Luke are in the midst of a spirited arm wrestle, which Karen is cheering equally spiritedly for. Leaning forwards, Claire presses a kiss against her cheek. It leaves  faint smear of lipstick behind. Jessica feels a tear in her throat. That smudge alone would probably cost her a week's wages. 

Jessica rolls her eyes. "Murdock," she hisses, "do you want this boy or don't you?"

Foggy moans; his arm has been pinned against the table. Rolling up her sleeves, Karen announces that she's going to be the first to take Luke down. 

"Jessica?" Trish asks. Her hair falls in curls around her neck. She's wearing a short purple dress and a smile wide enough to split her cheeks. She's nothing short of beautiful. "What's going on?"

Jessica stands up. For a couple of seconds, nobody notices. Then they do.

"Woah," Foggy says, gaping. "You really did a number on that chair."

"I'm not gonna pay," Karen slurs. Her eyelids flicker. "Am I?"

"Matt and I are dating," Jessica says, loudly enough for the neighbouring country to hear. "Surprise."

There is silence, broken only by the scraping of Luke's spoon against his plate. After a moment, this stops, too.

"Well," Matt says. "Yes. We are."

There's absolute stillness. Blood's pounding in Jessica's ears, slamming against the sides of her skull. She wonders what the most covert way to wipe her hands on her trousers would be.

"Matt," Foggy says, voice cracking. "I'm - wow. Congratulations. I wasn't - I mean, I didn't - I'm gonna go get some fresh air." Pushing his seat back from the table, Foggy goes to his feet. His smile is strained to its limit.

"Foggy," Matt says, for the second time. He's clutching his spoon tightly enough to whiten his knuckles. For the first time, Jessica considers the possibility that this might not have been the best idea.

Foggy shakes his head. "I - I'm really happy for you. Truly."

In Jessica's stomach, something clenches tightly. It feels like a fist, squeezing around her insides. Her breath comes short to her throat.

"Hooray!" Karen says, falling face-first onto the table. She begins to snuffle slightly. Claire presses a hand against her back, staring fixedly at Jess all the while.

"Are you sure," Claire says, "that this is the best plan? I mean, don't get me wrong, you two are both - dark and brooding, but...I mean...we all know - "

Behind Foggy, the door snaps shut.

"Ooh," Karen says, "that was loud. Wasn't that loud? I think it was loud."

"Know what?" Matt asks.

Claire hesitates.

"That a certain someone," Trish tentatively says, "is in love with a certain somebody else."

"Yeah," Claire agrees, "and this someone should probably tell that somebody soon."

"Someone," Karen says. "Somebody. Yep."

"Thank God," Jessica says, and slumps downwards, legs practically buckling. "I couldn't keep this up much longer. Go tell him, Matty. Do your civic duty."

"Wait," Claire says. "What?"

"Matt likes Foggy," Jessica says. "It's common knowledge, as you pointed out."

"Common knowledge," Karen mumbles. "Definitely."

"Sorry to break in, but I'm more than a little confused," comes from Luke's side of the table. He's hidden by the enormous helping at his place. "Would somebody mind helping a guy out?"

Claire shakes her head. Her collar scrapes against her neck. "But I was talking about - "

"Matt," Trish butts in. "He likes Foggy, too. What a shocker, right?"

"Okay, come on, we all knew that." Claire runs a hand across her eyes. "Why don't you just tell her?"

"Tell who what?" Matt asks. "And I don't like Foggy. We're - friends."

Jessica snorts. "Yeah, right. Friends who use attractive, female mutual friends to make each other jealous. I know the drill."

"You are attractive," Trish says. Her face colours. "Objectively speaking."

"O-kay," Karen garbles. "I'm gonna spill the beans - Matt likes Foggy, Foggy likes Matt, Jess likes Trish and Trish likes Jess. And Claire likes me, but she's told me that."

"I have," Claire murmurs, stroking Karen's head soothingly. "Go to sleep, honey."

Jessica feels her stomach plummet through her shoes. Her heart is beating a mile a minute. Outside, the snow is falling heavily, sending thick plumes against the glass. The window-panes rattle.

Trish breaks the quiet. "That - was sudden."

"It needed to come out," Luke hums. "Also, does that make me the only member of this group who isn't in a relationship? I promised myself I'd never get there."

Starting to his feet, Matt grabs hold of his cane, and is across the room and out of the door in a heartbeat.

Luke shrugs. "Something important happened. Finally."

Claire, taking hold of a strawberry, pops it into her mouth. She chews noisily. "I'm full. Guess Karen and I should be heading home."

"Trish," Jess says, summoning up the last reserves of her courage. "Is this true?"

Trish grits her teeth. Her eyes dart wildly from side to side. "Um." She swallows. Her throat bobs. "Yes. It is."

From the adjacent room there comes a crash, and a final-sounding whump.

"You're all gonna wreck my apartment," Luke says. "Remind me why I care about any of you?"

"Shut up," Jessica says, more out of instinct than anything else. "Seriously, Trish? You didn't think to tell me this before I tried to set Matt and Foggy up?"

"You're a private investigator," Trish says, staring firmly past her. "You're meant to be good at - figuring stuff out. It's your job."

Karen snorts. "She's 'bout as good with her feelings as a - a _chicken_ , or something."

"I'm not a chicken," Jessica snaps. Trish won't meet her eyes, until Jessica takes hold of her hand, lacing their fingers together. "I think it's time we actually had a proper conversation, Walker."

Trish chuckles. "We haven't done that since you were fifteen years old. You still haven't given me back that nail polish."

Suddenly, it seems as though the entire room has been focused down to the pair of them - to Trish's warmth, Trish's touch, Trish's quavering half-smile.

"Don't mind me," Karen says, and falls over a lampshade. Claire, apologising profusely, slings an arm across her shoulders and pulls her out of the door. In the entryway, Karen starts up with some sot of drinking song.

Luke snatches up his bowl. "I'm gonna fetch a second helping," he sighs. "I'd appreciate being left alone. Try not to break anything else, Jones."

In the other room, there's a second thump, and then Foggy's yelling, "Since _college_? We could have been together since _college_?"

Matt's placating murmur becomes a little louder.

Trish squeezes Jessica's hand, her thumb moving diagonally. Jessica's fingers tingle.

"I don't care," Foggy continues, voice rising to a higher pitch still (and all the dogs in the neighbourhood are probably gathering around the apartment now), "what you thought. I called you a _duckling_! What more do you need? _Blood_?"

Jessica can't hold in her laughter. 


End file.
